‘It’s a real concern for us’: Spokane health officer worried about local impact of Coyote Ridge’s spike in virus cases

Case counts are continuing to rise at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell and 1,815 inmates are quarantined after possible exposure to the virus, but the Department of Corrections is “exploring additional testing strategies” instead of committing to test all inmates.

As of Friday, 74 inmates at Coyote Ridge and 33 employees have tested positive for the virus.

Thirty-three inmates are in isolation with symptoms, but the department is testing only inmates with symptoms.

Clusters located in numerous other congregate facilities, like food processing plants, have shown that people with COVID-19 can be asymptomatic and still carry the virus.

After saying Thursday it would test only incarcerated individuals who have symptoms, the department released this statement to The Spokesman-Review on Friday: “Coyote Ridge Corrections Center has increased the rate of testing and tests incarcerated individuals as soon as they are symptomatic. The Department is working with the state Emergency Operations Center and the Department of Health to explore additional testing strategies to continue to mitigate the spread of the virus and protect our population and staff.”

As of Thursday, only 114 incarcerated individuals had been tested. As of Friday, 74 inmates had tested positive. The positivity rate among inmates is more than 60%. The medium security complex was put on restricted movement as of Thursday.

The Department of Corrections is moving some inmates to Airway Heights Corrections Center, which they have designated as a regional care facility. When anyone tests positive, they are evaluated to determine if they need to be transferred for “additional medical care,” according to a statement from the department.

Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz did not find out until Wednesday that the corrections department was moving inmates with more severe medical needs to Airway Heights .

There are now 16 individuals at the regional care facility.

Moving COVID-19 patients into the county means that if an inmate ends up needing more intensive treatment, he would need treatment at local hospitals in Spokane. Lutz found out about the regional care facility at Airway Heights from a local hospital, not the corrections department.

“That changes the whole calculus in how we’re managing our cases,” Lutz said.

“I was never contacted about this, and this affects our metrics and all of our efforts to ensure the health care system can withstand surges. It’s a real concern for us, and the fact that we were never brought into the conversation is disappointing.”

Ten new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Spokane County on Friday, with no new deaths. That puts the county’s case count at 802 confirmed cases. There are eight people hospitalized.

As other states begin to reopen their economies, case counts nationwide are trending up. Spokane County saw its case counts increase dramatically as soon as the county entered Phase 2 of Washington’s reopening plan.

While this weekend marks the earliest date the county could move to the next phase of the governor’s reopening plan, Lutz is not recommending it do so.

“I want to dampen the level of expectation that moving phases is linear and based upon a three-week interval,” Lutz said. “It’s dynamic, and unfortunately because people aren’t willing to follow persistent recommendations around physical distancing, face coverings and trying to limit their gatherings, and as we see more cases, we will find ourselves stagnant.”

Spokane County is only meeting the hospital capacity criteria in the list of benchmarks listed for counties to advance to the next phase of reopening.